Workshop 5: Introduction to Cataloging Resources and Selecting a Platform for Managing Your Personal Image Archive

Friday, April 2, 11am–12:30pm CST

Last quarter we focused on the image files in your archive—metadata is the other major component for maintaining a personal image archive. Art Historians deal with object metadata all the time, so this 90 minute workshop will open with a brief overview of cataloging resources as a way to level-up your metadata game. We’ll spend the majority of the session discussing three different potential platforms for managing your image archive, their pros and cons, and how the VRC can help collaborate. The session will focus on Tropy, a free platform for managing your image archive. It features metadata panels, room to transcribe documents, take notes, and more. Tropy excels at cataloging archival correspondence, so VRC staff created a custom template for cataloging art and architecture to make it a better option to document all your art and architecture photos, too! We’ll also cover Airtable and Google Sheets and strategies for managing copyright metadata for publication projects.

View the recording of the workshop.

View the accompanying slides and additional resources.